Even on the iPhone, we expect certain things from our games. Shiny graphics. Neat level designs. Complexity. Choice of the Dragon, however, takes things in a different direction entirely. The game is an old-fashioned, text-based RPG in which you pick from multiple-choice answers and follow branching paths through Choice of the Dragon's loose plot. Simple? Yes. Boring? Never.

Each screen features a plain, white background; some plain, black narrative text; and sometimes, a multiple-choice question. All questions are addressed to the dragon you're playing. They can be anything from a simple "What color is your hide?" in the beginning, to a decision that has a significant impact upon your dragon. The choices you make vary: what will I do with these goblins? Should I attack the dragon raiding my borders? Should I allow my puny human serfs to worship me? The narrative text is great; there's a lot of humor infused in the script.

Your dragon has three character traits: Brutality/Finesse, Cunning/Honor, and Disdain/Vigilance. (High Brutality = low Finesse; high Honor = low Cunning, etc.) In addition, your dragon has an Infamy rating; the game also tracks your wealth, how many wounds you attain, and how blasphemous you are. All of these stats are affected by your choices in the game. A sneak attack at night but raise Finesse but lower Honor, for example.

Once you exhaust the game's story, Choice of the Dragon presents you with your final stats, and that's it: you're done! You can replay the game to toy with the different plot branches, though.

All in all, Choice of the Dragon is a simple RPG in the truest sense—but it's still a lot of fun, largely thanks to the writing. Terrorizing kingdoms, conquering territory, collecting loot, vanquishing a powerful witch...sure, it's all in the text, but fantasy fans should definitely download this free-to-play game.

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

iPad Screenshots

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